What Is This Dripping Wet Fluid Feeling Inside My Head?

For the past 50 days, I’ve been feeling an odd dripping wet sensation in my head—like it’s inside my brain. Sometimes there is a coolness to it and other times it’s a normal temp. Also there are moments where there is tension, and other times it’s just this dripping wet feeling.

This Trickling Liquid Sensation In My Head Has Been Constant

And at times it drives me crazy. My only relief has been when I sleep.

When it first started, I experienced another scary symptom. I jolted awake with a small, throbbing area on the top/left side of my scalp. Like I was pulling hairs out in that tiny isolated area. There also was the sensation of water being inside my skull in that same spot. It lasted for a couple hours, and I mentally had to fight through panicked thoughts the entire time.

I did some breathing exercises, took half of a Valium, and sipped a little wine (my vice for just about everything—the wine, not the valium!)…and eventually I fell back asleep.

The next morning, those sensations were gone—but not my imagination about it. If you’re experiencing these “water in my brain and/or throbbing hair-pulling sensations” then you know just how scary your thoughts can get about them. Easier said then done, but you gotta try your best not to let those thoughts run wild and get some form of control over them. Like I said, easier said than done…but not impossible.

My motto for many years has been to try and figure things out holistically before going to a doctor. So that’s what I did. I had surgery back in February and there was a medication that I’d recently started taking that was supposed to help my body heal better. I stopped taking it right then and there. I’m not a fan of taking meds unless I absolutely have to, and if this medication was causing these scary sensations then whatever help it could possibly offer just wasn’t worth it to me.

*My policy on my blog is to share resources that I’ve personally found helpful and informing for you and other people to use as a starting point for your own research, and to make your own decisions with the care of your doctor.*

Almost a week passed without any throbbing, dripping feelings in my head and I thought I was in the clear. I’d convinced myself it was those meds and everything was better…until that nasty, scary feeling came back. Only this time, no more hair-pulling feelings—just constant water in my head. Sometimes it feels cool, sometimes just wet. Sometimes it is on the top/left, and other times it is at the top/back or top/front. I wipe at my forehead and across the sides as if water (or sweat) is dripping down it. But nothing’s there. It’s totally inside my skull.

I literally thought I had an aneurism or a brain tumor—or both. I mean, what the hell else could it be?

So I started looking up symptoms for aneurisms and tumors…I even nonchalantly asked a friend who’d just recently survived a horrible aneurism (she is seriously a miracle and her story gives me goose bumps). She told me she’d had headaches (some severe) and right before the actual aneurism she said it felt like a brain-freeze, that feeling you get in your head when you eat something frozen too fast.

Well, I wasn’t having headaches and that “cool water” feeling definitely wasn’t as if I’d eaten ice cream too fast. Some of the other symptoms I’d Googled (nausea, delusional, etc.) also did not apply to my particular creepy-ass situation.

All I feel is a dripping wet sensation that’s sometimes cool (not freezing). Sometimes there is a throbbing feeling, but not that pulling-hair feeling that occurred in the beginning. Just the wet head feeling that is at times super tense and other times more subtle. But always there. It’s making me fucking crazy.

And since I have no idea what the hell “this” is even called, I started researching “dripping in my head” and “cool wet sensation inside my head.” Here are some of the articles that came up:

Wet feeling in head
This shunting action can cause the skin, or parts of the skin, to feel cold and/or wet. Experiencing skin that feels cold and wet is a common sensation associated with an active stress response.

You’ve got to be kidding me? This whole thing could be stress? After reading through so many other similar experiences and how the ones that did go to a doctor never figured out what it was, and to make it worse was told that they were perfectly fine…oh my gosh, all of that triggered a memory of a horrible time in my life when I had constant panic attacks. About a half dozen ER visits all came back with a big fat nothing. I was told the same shit—“there is nothing wrong with you, here let me write you (another) script for Xanax.”

I was at a moment since I hadn’t dropped dead from this “brain condition” yet, then it was time to start treating it as if it could really be stress-related.

All of us have stress—new stress, old stress, repressed stress. We all suffer from our own bullshit thoughts. Here’s a quote from The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A Fuck that totally hit the nail on the head (ha, I’ve even thought of hitting myself in the head to make this feeling stop).

“Life itself is a form of suffering. The rich suffer because of their riches. The poor suffer because of their poverty. People without a family suffer because they have no family. People with a family suffer because of their family. People who pursue worldly pleasures suffer because of their worldly pleasures. People who abstain from worldly pleasures suffer because of their abstention.”

It goes on to say,

“Problems never stop; they merely get exchanged and/or upgraded. Happiness comes from solving problems. The keyword here is “solving.” If you’re avoiding your problems or feel like you don’t have any problems, then you’re going to make yourself miserable. If you feel like you have problems that you can’t solve, you will likewise make yourself miserable.”

And taking it a little deeper…

“Happiness is a constant work-in-progress, because solving problems is a constant work-in-progress—the solutions to today’s problems will lay the foundation for tomorrow’s problems, and so on. True happiness occurs only when you find the problems you enjoy having and enjoy solving.”

So I put on my problem-solving hat—what’s bothering me? What’s hurting me right now? And what the fuck can I do about it?

I’m guilty of holding things inside. Vulnerable things that if spoken, I feel terrified to have admitted them. I observed how that was causing some turmoil in some of my relationships. It’s a total red flag for me if I take a little space (which in my opinion is perfectly fine…a little space helps me calm down and not feel so reactive about a hot situation) and then instead of feeling ready to face the issue, I’d rather push further away. I find that too much space can sometimes hurt the relationship.

Since it’s easier for me to write things down (I journal quite a bit about stuff that sometimes never gets shared, but it still feels better to get it out) so I grabbed my journal and started writing letters to the people that things had been building up pretty bad inside me. People I love deeply and want to have a relationship with. I got all my feelings out and with shaky fingers, hit the “send” button.

There, done. I got it all out. I pushed through my vulnerability and shared my inner feelings.

I hate to say it, but I still feel that pesky, crazy wet sensation in my head. For two days it calmed down where it was super minimal—I was really busy and didn’t have a moment to think about it. Maybe that helped? I know it had to because when I overthink about it, it only gets worse.

I’d hoped to have found a solution to share with you, but as of now I don’t have one. But what I can do is let you know you’re not alone. I feel it too. There are moments I feel close to a breakdown because it’s so scary. I just gotta keep my mind focused on something else. That’s really what seems to work the best. Finding out so many others are going through this has also been helpful. Perhaps therapy could be an option? If this keeps up I may end up giving that a try.

For me, I’ve linked it to stress and perhaps I’m at a personal and spiritual growth area in my life—perhaps there’s something big I’m about to learn. Perhaps after I have that breakthrough this “wet head” feeling will go away forever. God, I hope so. I pray that for you and me and everyone else going through this.

I’m not a big believer of coincidence…there is something to learn and grow from this whole thing. You’re not alone. I’m right here with you. As I continue to push through this situation, I’ll update this post with anything at all that I find helpful.

So far what’s helped me the best are my various breathing exercises, listening to music, praying, drinking wine, reading, keeping busy with work stuff and my house chores (plus I have some extra house stuff happening right now too that perhaps is adding to my stress but also keeping me pretty damn busy), playing with my bulldog, and spending time with family and friends. I see a beach trip coming up in the near future and I anticipate that’ll be helpful too as I love the beach.

UPDATE #1: Two days ago, my husband gave me a deep tissue massage in my neck and shoulders. I had knots galore and at times there were tears in my eyes when he’d press his elbow into those areas. But afterward, I felt so much relief…And that water sensation feeling went away. So far these two days of not feeling that creepy dripping water sensation have been a godsend. At the end of the week, I’ll update further as to how I feel and if that horrible sensation is still gone. Oh, I hope so!

UPDATE #2: It’s been a little over 2 weeks and that dripping wet feeling returned a few times. I got a neck/shoulder massage every time it came back to ease the sensation. So far, the super deep tissue massage seems to be the biggest help, even though at times the massage itself is painful. There are tension knots throughout the right side of my neck and down into my right shoulder blade. Light massaging isn’t enough—my hubby uses his elbow to grind down into those areas and afterward there is so much relief…the dripping wet head sensation is mostly gone. There are times it’s very subtle, so subtle that I have to focus on it to feel it, and additional massaging so far helps with that.

If you’re going through this—and I’m assuming you are if you’ve gotten all the way down here on this post—then I’d love to hear from you if there’s anything working for you that’s helping. Anything at all. Nothing is too crazy. If the massage doesn’t work for the longterm, I’ll literally try anything else to help this feeling go away.

I wish I could answer “why” this happens….when the feeling comes it is uncomfortable and scary. I’ve been managing it ok with the massages and I ramped up my morning meditations again (about 10 minutes each morning) to help reduce my stress. Also, I’ve been experimenting with a couple supplements that are for brain health…I’ll be adding that info to this post. Based on my research and personal experience I believe this dripping wet feeling in my head is caused by high stress for long durations of time—and the more things I do to keep my stress levels down, the better I feel. Almost the whole past week I’ve been completely free of that horrible feeling and I am so grateful for that. If you’ve tried anything that works for you, please share it. I hope you feel better as soon as possible. ~A

Thanks. My stress level has gone so high that I have got pain in left half of the Jaws. And at times I get vertigo too. And also spasms on left face. Have seen the doc 4 times. He says it’s all stress as the test are all clear. I hope I get over this stress thing very soon. Thanks again.

It still comes and goes with me too…I’ve been experimenting with various brain health supplements to see if they can help. Also wondering if diet could be a link? Since starting my new job my diet hasn’t been as clean…plus the extra stress. Sending healing vibes your way. I hate you’re going through this too, but you’re not alone and I do believe there’s hope in getting healed. We can’t give up.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I came searching because of how my body has been feeling and I know it is related to the high level of stress I am going through right now. Reading your post reminded me to go get my journal and to pour my thoughts as as well as some strategies for dealing with work which is the area of stress right now. Every one else, I have put first. Now at the expense of my health and that stops today. Sometimes the phone will be off. I will clearly state my windows of availability (which will no longer include my personal time in the evenings). No more working into the night on other people’s projects and priorities while my own go on neglected. Time out.

I’ll never forget this scenario a good friend shared with me a while back….you know when you’re on a plane about to take off and the flight attendants are going over emergency protocol? When the oxygen masks fall, who do you put it on first? YOURSELF…and then you can help others around you. That really resonated with me. If we don’t take care of ourselves, we are not the best version of ourselves for our family and friends. Sending positive vibes your way.

My goodness is terrifing, I’ve been to the hospital 8 times, cat scans, mri, just to be told nothing was found. Anxiety and stress levels are high so maybe it’s feom that, I’ll have to try and calm down. Praying to god it goes away and never comes back again.

It really is so scary. And it’s unpredictable, just like my panic attacks had been when I suffered from them. I’m praying it goes away for us all. We need to keep finding ways to stay healthy and manage our stress levels as good as we can. We’re in this together. Sending well wishes your way.

I’m honestly going through the same. It’s HORRIBLE and so random! Getting an MRI within the next month THANK GOD and I’ll share the results but sometimes it literally feels like the sensation you get right before a nosebleed in your head except your nose doesn’t bleed and then it just feels like trickling (down the back of my head in my case). Brain aneurysms run in my family so I honestly get TERRIFIED but I’m always told nothing is wrong. I feel bad for putting my family through the scare too but I’m scared to death when it happens and I also feel like passing out, I get super light-headed and weak. Does that happen to you all? I really hope it’s just stress and to get a definite answer ASAP. I keep hearing MS is another possibility but last time my test for MS was negative, so blessed with that. Could it also be a lack of nutrients? I’m low on a few

It really is horrible! I also wondered if it could be a deficiency of some kind and have been experimenting with various supplements. Here’s some of the products that I’ve been trying out (some of them are linked from my affiliate FYI).

Please keep me posted if you are able to find anything else out. You’re not alone…it is crazy how many of us are affected by this! I’ll share again after my next doctor checkup if I discover anything helpful too. Sending healing vibes and positive thoughts your way.

Im glad to know that i am not the only one feeling this way. I suffered from a concussion 9 days ago and although I tried to relax my head and not do any chores I still have a headache. Now, this feeling has occured. I do suffer from anxiety and that may have cause this feeling. I have not spoke to my doctor cause I am giving myself time to see if I will heal. But It scares me not knowing.

It hasn’t been coming on as much as it had been…thank God…but when it does it’s still really scary. I’m still stressed, but I’ve stayed consistent with my morning meditations (about 7-10 mins) every day. And lots of breathing exercises throughout the day, which do help calm me down a little. I also added Medicinal mushrooms to my supplement routine. I’m not a doctor—just sharing my personal experience with hopes it can help others going through it too, and you should always consult your doctor before taking advice from someone’s blog. For me, I still believe this is caused from stress and anxiety. The more I work on managing that, the less it seems to flare up in my head. Here are the mushroom supplements so you can explore it further if you want.https://amzn.to/2DJY6Qw = Genius Mushroomshttps://amzn.to/2DKiosW = Host Defense Brain Mushrooms
I am praying this feeling goes away and never comes back again for all of us. I’m sorry you’re going through it…but you are NOT alone. ~A

Hi Ashley, Thank you for opening up a forum for discussion on this. Comforting to know its not just me!

I’m experiencing a similar thing and as it’s supposedly inside our heads it’s frighteningly difficult to know for sure what to make of it. If i go to a doctor I’m not really sure theyd take it serioisly. I wonder whether it’s a hypersensitivity to normal bodily brain functions. It feels like a drip of water running down the inside of my head. Similar to a drip on the outside but there’s nothing there.

Another issue that I’ve been getting is a feeling like I’m going to suffocate or something when sleeping on one side. Everything goes very quiet and almost ‘closes in’, and I have to roll over to the other side to almost reset my head.. It occurs just as I’m about to fall asleep and wakes me straight back up with a jolt. Very odd!

Lastly, for a considerable time now I’ve also been getting what I’m becoming convinced is brain fluid (almost certainly not the technical term) out of my nose. Unlike standard mucus it runs straight out like water. Transparent in colour. Doesnt seem quite right.

I’m sure stress is a big factor in it all.
Plus I take mirtazapine antidepressants which adds another layer. I’d love to hear your thoughts? Thanks for the tip about getting a massage, I’m going to give that a try and see if it helps this week.

I’m also glad to know I’m not alone. I get the water tingling down my head sensation with a headache and tension feeling. I’ve had a cat scan, blood work, and mri which all come back normal. These Paresthesia feelings are very scary and drive me insane. The sensations started after I applied a prescription drug called elidel to my face and from then on it’s been a turmoil.

I never had this feeling until I started my birth control after having my baby… So I am stopping the pills just to see if it makes a difference. I don’t take any other pills only vitamins. So I’ll see how it goes..

I am having this feeling now and I hate it so much especially hearing stories of people having brain tumors and stuff. I don’t have headaches or anything like that.
I have been going through a lot with LIFE and I fear a lot of things. I went to my doctor and she said to seek counseling, exercise, and I’ve also been taking stress vitamins OLLY brand.

I never knew other people were having the same feeling. its scary and I feel like I’m going to lose my mind! I will try getting a deep massage this weekend 🙂

Hi,
I have this sensation at the top of my head and my first thought was a brain tumor or aneurysm. I was just diagnosed with sinusitis and I am hoping it is related to that. I had a CT scan today and now waiting results. It is such an odd feeling to have mine has only been a couple of days, but it is awful and uncomfortable.

I have the same strain and pressure on top of head and dripping feeling inside. If I bend down I feel the pressure. It was really cold around here, and yes, mornings I’ve gone out after washing my hair (no drying) without a hat.
None of you guys have been diagnosed with meningitis? That’s what I can think of. Hope I’m ok.

This is literally the only page where I’ve found a similar description of what I’ve been going through for the past two weeks or so.

It started with a cool feeling on the top of my head on the left side and it would come and go and freak me out. Then it migrated across like a band across the top of my head. Then it would go away. Then my temple started to feel pressure like a knot was forming and then also go away after a while.

But the full “cool” feeling on the top left side would always be there, with varying degrees of intensity. Sometimes it would get hot too. But none of it was really painful just a sensation. Maybe a 2 on a pain scale of 1-10. Occasionally I would feel more pressure around my temple that would get to maybe a 4. Today I had a bout of “wetness” in different areas and a general tension all around, which lead me to your page.

It mainly tapers off at night, but tonight it was worse. I wake up and not feel it as much and hope it was gone and then it would slowly get stronger again throughout the day.

I read that your blood pressure starts off low
In the morning, peaks in the afternoon and the lowers again at night. So naturally I associated the slight pain and pressure to that. Then I was thinking it could be blood/vessel/clot related. But why would it travel all around the head?

What’s so frustrating is I’m reading that it’s due to anxiety, which you would think would ease my mind (literally) but the more I feel it the worse my anxiety becomes. So around and around we go. I don’t know if I’m making it worse or if there’s really something wrong.

I have a drs appt in a few days but I’m flipping out that something will happen to me over the weekend and I won’t get there in time. I think I either need someone to tell me I’m nuts or get a scan to convince myself it’s nothing.

Could be sinus related. Could be a viral meningitis? Could be diet related? Too much vitamin D (I have been taking a lot since my dr said I was low like everyone in the universe)? Too much supplements? Too much protein?

I have had some benign issues in the past like restless legs, body twitches / spasms and other things that seem to happen out of nowhere and I work myself up about them. I’m always told by my doctor that it’s all nothing to worry about. So ok, maybe I’m a nutcase. Is that it? It all feels too real to just be a fabricated feeling… right?

I take care of myself pretty good too. I try to eat well. Not a lot of junk. Eat fish. Eat tons of green veggies and salads. Lean meats. Try to get enough sleep, at least 6-8 a night. I’m very active at the gym. I run over 12 miles a week and play ice hockey 1-2x a week. So if that’s not enough to alleviate the stress of life I don’t know what is!

Because I do worry a little, I made the decision to start taking a daily low dose aspirin some months ago. I read an article about its pros. Then months later another article about its cons. So I wanted to stop. But I can’t now because of the dangers associated with stopping. All this plays into the head thing- is my blood thin? Is it causing bleeding of or on the brain? Is that the wet feeling? Is it part of the anxiety that is causing it? Possibly. Reading my own words make me think I need a shrink and not a general physician.

We have however had some financial hardships recently. Things have kind of compounded on us and maybe I’m feeling pressure due to that. It’s very possible. But to manifest itself in such a physical way is debilitating and scary. And the last thing I want to do is spend a bunch of money we don’t have just to find out that it’s stress/anxiety… because that will only add more!

I’ve had this happen off and on for almost 2 years! My dr said it was due to my fibromyalgia(which I was diagnosed with after my first baby which was emergency section) stress, anxiety, put me on Zoloft which helped but my mental and emotional health was the best it ever was I was just frustrated with myself for little things I was doing here or there, until I started getting too annoyed with my symptoms that’s when I decided to come off it, cuz between myself and my dr I believed that the symptoms were were then what they were helping with. Months went by and I was still doing things or had thing happen that I couldn’t explain. For example head ache without pain, just pressure, my right ear constantly ringing, vision change, hearing loss, weakness in my hands that I couldn’t even squeeze toothpaste out, left eye always twitching, pain in my shoulders no matter what I did or took, and i HATE taking meds. I don’t see the need of it like yourself I’d rather a holistic approach first. I’ve tried every proscription for fibromyalgia and nothing solved all my issues. Fast forward to now I had a baby in April, section, epidural wouldn’t work, vitals kept dropping so they opted for spinal. Also when i was 9 I found out I was born with spina bifita occtula. I’ve always suffered from lower back problem, so the fact that all my issues are flared up the one time makes me panic and my anxiety bad, not because I’m having anxiety about anything else. I’m all over the place if you can tell.. lol went to emergency twice Tuesday because I couldn’t get out of bed, couldn’t see straight, cpuld barely walk and could hardly talk, had a ct Friday and neurologist next week. I’ll keep you all posted
XO
BMVP